NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Biology, Chapter 12 - Biotechnology and its Applications

In this chapter, you will learn what Biotechnology is and how it can be used in the production of biopharmaceuticals on an industrial scale. In chapter 12, you will learn about the various applications of biotechnology such as therapeutics, diagnosis, processed food, etc. This lesson also discusses the usage of biotechnology and how it can improve the quality of life led by us.

Let us take a look at the topics and subtopics that you will study in Chapter 12- Biotechnology and its Applications:

12.1 Biotechnological Applications in Agriculture

12.2 Biotechnological Applications in Medicine

12.2.1 Genetically Engineered Insulin

12.2.2 Gene Therapy

12.2.3 Molecular Diagnosis

12.3 Transgenic Animals

12.4 Ethical Issues

In this chapter, you will study:

Section 12.1: In this section, you will study the three methods which can be used for increasing the production of food. The three options are 1. Agro-chemical based agriculture, 2. Organic agriculture and 3. Genetically engineered crop-based agriculture. Here, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) has also been discussed. Plants, bacteria, fungi and animals whose genes have been altered by manipulation are called Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO).

Section 12.2: You have learned in the previous chapter about recombinant DNA technological processes and its impact on various sectors. This also has an impact in the field of healthcare which enables mass production of effective and safe therapeutic drugs. These drugs do not induce unwanted immunological responses.

You will also learn about insulin. The insulin which was used for diabetic patients was extracted from the pancreas of slaughtered animals such as pigs and cows. This insulin extracted from animals causes an allergic reaction in some people. In mammals, the insulin is synthesized as a prohormone which contains the C peptide. Here, you will learn about the challenge that is faced while producing insulin from DNA technology. Gene therapy consists of a collection of methods that allows the correction of a gene defect that has been diagnosed in a patient since he or she was a child/embryo. The genes are inserted into the person’s tissues and cells in order to treat the disease.

In this section, you will learn about the first clinical gene therapy that took place and the outcome of the treatment.

You will also learn that an effective treatment for a disease and understanding it pathophysiological is very crucial and that the use of conventional methods of diagnosis for early detection is not possible. Some of the techniques which help in the early detection of such disease are recombinant DNA technology, Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay (ELISA), and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).

Section 12.3: In this section, you will learn about the transgenic animals are those animals whose DNAs have been manipulated to express and possess a foreign gene. Over the years, transgenic sheep, cows, rats, rabbits and fish have been produced. you will also learn about the reason behind why transgenic animals are being produced.

The benefits of such transgenic animals to man are normal physiology and development, the study of disease, biological products, vaccine safety, and chemical safety testing. These five reasons have been explained thoroughly in this section of transgenic animals.

Section 12.4: In this section, you will learn about the ethical issues that have been raised over the years for the manipulation of animals by human beings without regulation. Some standards are required to regulate this manipulation, and this has been discussed in the final chapter of class 12 Biology.

To find answers to all your questions, refer to Biotechnology and Its Applications Class 12 NCERT Solutions, here at UrbanPro. For further help, download the Biotechnology and Its Applications Class 12 NCERT Pdf now!